


then i saw his face (and now i'm a believer)

by mairieux



Series: fool me once with your eyes now, honey [2]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Fairy AU, M/M, PLEASE LOVE ME I REALLY TRIED, Rekindling, hapi ending :), i honestly have no idea what to tag this w/o spoiling everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 15:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15952268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mairieux/pseuds/mairieux
Summary: falling in love is easy as one-two-three; trying to fall out of it isn’t;or, this is the story of Hakyeon and Taekwoon finding each other once again, and realising that they can’t fall out of love, and can only fall deeper, and deeper.





	then i saw his face (and now i'm a believer)

**Author's Note:**

> yall didn’t have it coming uwu i'm so glad to finally have finished this and now i can move on in my list!
> 
> i hope yall like it uwu

_ “You were here all this time?” _

_ Cold, chilly, strained. _

_ “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” _

_ Quiet, soft, naïve. _

_ “Hakyeon-“ _

_ And Cha Hakyeon turns around – to see the man he loves clad in his wedding suit. _

_ “Did you need anything?” He asks, somehow, voice shaky and hushed. _

_ “Um, your presence?” Hakyeon rests his arms on the railing, fully comfortable in the evening air even when his small heart is almost like a woodpecker in this human body. “What’s a wedding reception without the best man?” _

_ “You’re right,” he seconds with a defeated sigh, “but what’s a wedding reception without the groom?” _

_ Of course, he doesn’t get a reply, and receives a snarky glare instead. Hakyeon falls harder, anyway. _

_ “That still feels weird to say, to be honest,” Hakyeon adds instead, watching the puffs of his breaths prettily disappear into the frigid air. “You, the groom, this wedding-“ _

_ “What are you trying to say-“ _

_ “Why do they not change the way you say 'mister' once you’re married? If a miss becomes a missus, why can’t a mister become ‘mistersus’?” _

_ “I don’t know?” _

_ “When do you think I can be a  _ mistersus _ too?” Lightly joking, Hakyeon’s eyes crinkle in the slightest as he adores the reaction he gets from him. _

_ “I never saw you with a woman the whole time I knew you?” _

_ “So? When do you think?” He knows he’s slowly treading towards dangerous waters right now – but what’s the risk when all of it will be over tomorrow? _

_ “How could I know, Hakyeon? I was the only person I knew you really spent time with.” _

_ Ah – why must the love of his life be so dumb? Hakyeon himself already feels dumb the moment he realised he inevitably fell for him, so him being dumb too makes this star-crossed situation even worse (funnier). _

_ So, Hakyeon stares and the penny is in the air. _

_ Eyes dark and broody. Body locked up between him and the balcony railing. There’s a noisy beat coming from inside the reception hall. _

_ He counts – one, two, three, until he may have reached eighteen or nineteen and that’s only when the man in front of him realises the words he never uttered, he never murmured. But Hakyeon knew better to speak through actions than words. _

_ “I-“ _

_ “Yes, you.” _

_ “Me?” _

_ “You, Taekwoon.” _

_ And Jung Taekwoon steps back – knees shaking from his best friend clad in his best suit as his best man. _

_ The penny drops. _

_ “Sorry.” Hakyeon immediately says; the expression on Taekwoon’s face says it all. “I’m sorry I love you.” _

_ But Taekwoon doesn’t falter, and he tries to calm his jumping nerves as more blood rushes to his face. _

_ “Don’t… Say that,” he whispers, slowly inching towards Hakyeon with uneven footsteps. _

_ “But I needed to say it.” _

_ “I don’t think it’s something to be sorry about.” And he takes Hakyeon’s hands, feeling the smallest sparks of energy between their fingers as he laces them together. He doesn’t wait for Hakyeon to reply, beating him before he opens his mouth. “And I just, kinda knew.” _

_ “You knew?” Hakyeon doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry – his tear ducts have been emptied enough for this one special night – so he lets out a fluttery laugh instead. “I feel so stupid.” _

_ “Not  _ knew _ , but – I don’t know,” Taekwoon admits, hanging his head down in guilt. “I just always had a feeling that you felt something beyond friendship between us.” He rubs his thumb against one of Hakyeon’s knuckles, feeling its bony surface amongst the pad of his finger. “And don’t call yourself stupid; we’ve been over that.” _

_ So Hakyeon shuts his mouth instead, refusing to look anywhere else besides the navy and gold tie Taekwoon’s sporting for tonight. _

_ “I’m the foolish one,” he adds, after realising Hakyeon’s not going to speak another word like this, “as I was afraid to admit to myself I maybe also felt like that.” _

_ His sudden confession makes Hakyeon still for a moment, yet he goes back to having a one-sided staring contest with his chest. _

_ “I loved you too, Hakyeonnie.” Taekwoon finally says, and Hakyeon perhaps miscalculated his remaining tears as his eyes are getting glassy again. “I’m sorry I was so stupid and cowardly.” _

_ Hakyeon suddenly takes his hands away from Taekwoon’s grip, and he clutches to his crisp dark grey suit instead, still unable to look him into the eyes. _

_ And, with a second’s beat, he asks, “loved or love?” _

_ It takes Taekwoon a while to answer, almost driving Hakyeon insane and want to jump down this second-story building. But when he does, softly, answers “love,” all of Hakyeon’s feelings maybe jumped down the balcony indeed. _

_ “Thank you, Taekwoon-ah,” he mumbles, eyes glassed with tears, and he reached up to pull Taekwoon down for one last hug, “thank you, for making me last all this way and making me experience what it feels to be in love.” _

_ When Hakyeon pulls away, Taekwoon misses his warmth immediately. “Hakyeon-“ _

_ “Also, um, I have a flight tomorrow, to Europe,” Hakyeon admits, looking distantly behind Taekwoon and watching the guests inside enjoy this night beside him, “so, you don’t need to worry seeing me again. You can tell your wife my best wishes and congratulations.” _

_ Hakyeon forces his smile to reach up to his eyes, and he squeezes Taekwoon’s frozen arm before starting to walk away. _

_ Taekwoon catches one of his hands, anyway, making a hundred notes in his brain how easily Hakyeon’s hand fits against his. _

_ It’s a good thing Hakyeon chose to have this quiet, unofficial rendezvous here in the balcony – as Taekwoon’s rational thinking jumped down the balcony along with Hakyeon’s – as he pulls him closer, just to catch his chin and lock their lips. _

_ Quick, rushed, fast. _

_ But- oh, oh Hakyeon – Hakyeon realised in those three seconds why people lost their minds and fought the wars. With Taekwoon’s thin lips easily fitting his, Hakyeon decides to write a hundred notes describing this short-lived exchange later. _

_ “I love you,” Taekwoon murmurs unabashedly. _

_ “Thank you,” Hakyeon maybe stuttered a bit, but talking is hard when you’re holding back kissing the love of your life once again, “thank you for that, really.” There’s a smile slowly creeping up his face that he wasn’t aware of, and he  _ knows _ he should feel guilty about it. _

_ His eyes trail to his hand that’s still in lock with Taekwoon’s, and he catches Taekwoon’s gaze. _

_ Unspoken, untold, unmentioned. _

_ “Thank you, Jung Taekwoon. Thank you for letting me love you.” He shakes his grip off, and only when his back is completely facing Taekwoon he hears him say, _

_ “You’ll always be my best friend, Cha Hakyeon.” _

_ Yet Hakyeon already disappeared into the guests of the wedding reception, and possibly disappear in his life forever. _

::

“You sure it’s really okay, hyung?” Absentmindedly, Hakyeon taps the wooden counter along to a song stuck in his head. “Hyung.”

“Huh?”

“I asked if it’s really okay with you to man the counter again.”

With a smile, Hakyeon shakes his head, “I told you, I’m fine, Hongbin. This isn’t the first time I’m going to be your part-time cashier.”

But the crease between Hongbin’s eyebrows folds further, tearing his gaze to the side as if he’s thinking of something.

“I’m sure Sanghyuk will be done with his finals in the next week or two, so you don’t need to worry about your limited time.”

“I know, I know,” Hakyeon pats Hongbin’s arm reassuringly, and he watches as the worried knot on his forehead slowly disappears. “You don’t need to worry, Hongbin. Besides, I got Jaehwannie here; he won’t let me die that fast.”

“Thank you, hyung.” Hongbin means it, with the dimpled cheeks and toothy smile; and Hakyeon kind of understands how his best friend fell for him inevitably.

Really though, Hakyeon is happy to help. Since Sanghyuk’s finals season have come up, Hongbin can’t really manage to shop alone.

Sure, Jaehwan’s here, but Hongbin’s implied one too many times that the most Jaehwan can do for help is to sit pretty and be eye candy (that’s not entirely true, though, as everyone knows Hongbin’s flower shop would be nowhere without Jaehwan’s hand in the garden).

Anyway, it’s not like Hakyeon needs to do a lot. Customers come and go at a slow pace, too, so most of the time he’s between cringing at Jaehwan’s flirtatious attempts towards Hongbin and vice versa.

“Ah, Binnie!”

Just like that shriek from Jaehwan, Hakyeon knows it’s his cue to tear his gaze away lest he wants to burn an unforgettable scene in his brain.

(Last time Hakyeon accidentally stared too long and the image of Jaehwan pinning Hongbin against one of the shelves had to be forgotten through risky fairy spells.)

To be honest, deep down Hakyeon, he’s sort of envious of the couple – always distantly wondering how it’d be to have something like that. Most of the time he ends up upset, however, as he can’t settle imagining his significant other for anybody besides, well, Taekwoon.

How long has it been? Five? Six? And Taekwoon probably thinks he’s still in Europe – or, realistically speaking, forgotten in Taekwoon’s memories.

It’s fine, though. Hakyeon knew what he was getting before he dared to even talk to him.

Humans are fickle, fairies are not. Humans can’t fall in love easily, while fairies do.

For humans, falling out of love is easy as one-two-three, yet fairies only set their hearts to one in a lifetime.

Even if Taekwoon’s off with his wife and, most likely, kids, already forgotten his memories of spring days with Hakyeon, it’ll remain as Hakyeon’s greatest treasure, may it be buried deep and locked in his chest.

Fairies don’t revolve around love, anyway. They’ve got better things to do like gardening, animal care-

“-hyung, can you grab the sack of fertiliser from the storage?”

-grabbing sacks of fertilisers… Hmm?

It takes Hakyeon two seconds to realise that Hongbin’s asking for help, making him abruptly stand up.

“Which one?”

“The all-purpose one.”

He quickly shuffles to his feet, almost missing Jaehwan’s whine of something along the lines of ‘what’s the purpose of using fertilisers when there are literally two fairies in the room’.

The storage room is properly arranged and the materials are neatly stacked, as expected of Hongbin. It doesn’t take Hakyeon too long to spot the fertiliser he’s meant to get.

What gives him trouble, however, is its weight. Coming from a shelf and all, it’ll be hard to manoeuvre it up without causing a mess.

_ Damn _ , does Hongbin think fairies have extra-strength too?

Carefully, Hakyeon pulls out the sack, and he feels an invisible sweat roll down his neck as he catches the sack in time before it hits the ground and spill everywhere.

With a soft mumble from Hakyeon’s lips, the sack slightly loses its weight in his hands and Hakyeon cheekily brings the sack towards the main shop area, just to catch Jaehwan huddled over a pot and Hongbin behind the counter.

“What’s up?”

The way they look at him makes him feel like he suddenly became a ghost.

“You… Actually got it,” Jaehwan trails off, before Hongbin breaks out into another smile and starts laughing.

“What?” Now Hakyeon’s lost, with Hongbin making cheery poses and Jaehwan pouting dramatically. “Was I not supposed to?”

“We had a bet,” Hongbin supplies, to Hakyeon’s relief, “I betted that you were going to get it yourself through human ways or not, while Jaehwan said you’d whine and tell us off that it’s too heavy.”

Of course, of course. When there’s no Sanghyuk, there’s a Hakyeon.

“So you didn’t really need this?” Hakyeon slowly feels his anger rising, but Jaehwan makes a grab for the bag before he storms off.

“Thank you, Yeonnie.” He makes a kissy face at him, and maybe Hakyeon forgot about the bet already.

“Oh? Did a customer come in?” There’s a new entry in the log book that Hakyeon’s sure wasn’t written before.

“Yeah, a man bought a bouquet of stargazers,” Hongbin replies with a non-committed shrug. “He looked sad when I gave him the flowers, so I’m assuming they’re for a dead relative,” before he pauses, and says, “I mean, lilies are the go-to grieving flowers. I just don’t think stargazers are the best lilies for that.”

Sometimes it surprises Hakyeon how much Hongbin knows and takes care to know his flower stuff, and it makes him proud, in the very least, that he can trust his best friend to someone like him.

“Anyway,” his sudden loud voice startles Hakyeon, “I’m thinking of closing up for today. It’s starting to get dark.” It’s only when Hongbin mentioned it did he actually notice the orange sky fading to a deep blue.

“And you,” Hongbin’s arms easily find Jaehwan’s waist as he goes over to him, “you’re in charge of dinner, since you lost the bet.” Jaehwan doesn’t falter, however, as he cleans up the flower display.

Hakyeon does look away, as he knows better.

And distantly, he stares at the inky darkness climbing up the warm sky, knowing that he’ll come home again to a full house that doesn’t even belong to him with an empty heart.

::

Another slow day just like yesterday, and Hakyeon is maybe starting to lose his mind.

He, first of all, forgot to charge his phone when he went to bed last night, so now he’s stuck manning the cashier with a measly 27% phone battery that he needs to savour every second of.

And two, even with the air-conditioner on full blast, it really is meltingly hot when you’re sitting in front of a big glass-walled window and the sun is staring right back at you.

So he knocks his head against the wood of the counter in defeat, Hongbin and Jaehwan’s hushed conversation swimming around his ears.

Cha Hakyeon can do this – he can  _ nap _ .

It’s just that the universe hates him as much Hakyeon hates it back as the doorbell chimes the moment he’s about to comfortably sleep against the countertop.

Not only that, since he suddenly sits up too because the bell surprised him, an eyelash falls into one of his eyes.

“Uh- hello… ?”

“Hello, yes, hello,” Hakyeon struggles to itch out the fallen eyelash – God, where are Hongbin and Jaehwan when you need them? (Then he remembers that Hongbin announced that they’re both going to eat at McDonald’s for the meantime.)

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, sorry,” he apologises, standing up and rushing towards the air-conditioner, letting the air blow out the stupid piece of hair. When it finally blew out he comes back to the cashier, his hands still easing his now-swollen eye.

“Sorry about that,” his eyes blinking blearily, with one of them still blurry and unstable, he couldn’t make out the look of the customer. “What can I help you with?”

But the customer doesn’t say a word, and Hakyeon wonders if he’s actually just having a bad day.

He tries again, “What can I help you-“

“Cha Hakyeon?”

Then everything stills.

_ Then everything registers. _

Quick, soft, unabashed.

The bleariness of one of his eyes finally disappears, and there indeed he is, standing in a turtleneck sweater and ripped jeans, maybe a little bit like something out of Hakyeon’s daydreams.

“… Jung Taekwoon?”

::

Hongbin didn’t take so much convincing with Hakyeon told him he’s gonna take a quick break to a café (he didn’t bother saying he’s going out with someone, as he knows Jaehwan might lurk around if he did).

So now, he’s sitting in a tall chair, in front of him an also tall table, and across from him is a tall man who’s also sitting in a tall chair– and Hakyeon kinda gets it at this point that this café is just out to laugh at his height.

There are two cups between them, a steaming caramel macchiato and an iced latte, a blatant contrast of their tastes.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Hakyeon finally says, after deciding he lost against the staring battle between him and the table. “I didn’t even consider you’d see me again.”

Taekwoon looks at him carefully, his sharp eyes glinting softly as he scans Hakyeon’s face. It’s weird, but Hakyeon feels a sense of comfort over his gaze.

“I missed you,” Taekwoon tells him, instead, just as hushed as he remembers.

“I missed you, too,” Hakyeon admits, ears reddening fast, and he smiles it off guiltily.

And they stay quiet again, just silently sipping their own cups of coffee.

What are you really supposed to say in situations like these anyway? Hakyeon hasn’t watched enough dramas to know what to say in case he runs into someone like him.

“How was Europe?” Taekwoon decides to ask this time, but his eyes are trained on the sweating plastic of his iced latte.

“I’m-“ Hakyeon doesn’t know if he should tell the truth. So he shuts his lips tight, before deciding to, in the end, “I didn’t- I really didn’t go to Europe.”

Of course, Taekwoon doesn’t look surprised.

“You’re gonna say, ‘I figured,’ didn’t you?” He teases in the best of efforts to lighten up the mood, before Taekwoon gets to say it. And he smiles, when Taekwoon does nod.

“What can I do, Taekwoon-ah?” Hakyeon rests his chin on one of his palms, looking at Taekwoon who’s suddenly shying up. “You know me so well.”

Silence again.

“So, how’s the wife?” Hakyeon loves hurting himself. “Everything going great?”

The question makes Taekwoon still over.

“Eun-mi… “ He starts, looking at Hakyeon with an unreadable face. “She was well.”

Was?

“It’s just- Eun-mi,” Taekwoon takes a moment, to close his eyes, before flickering open again, and there’s a sullen look hanging over his eyes. “She died three years ago.”

Oh- now Hakyeon feels awful.

“I’m sorry,” he says immediately, feeling absolutely shit for bringing her up. “I didn’t know.”

It makes sense now – he must’ve been the man from yesterday who bought the stargazer lilies, and the fact that he’s acting more solemn than usual – Hakyeon caught him in a bad week.

“It’s alright, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon reassures him anyway, the ever-so gentleness of his voice bringing waves upon waves of relief to Hakyeon more than he knows. “Thank you for asking about her.”

With this, Hakyeon secretly brought out his phone to text Jaehwan that he’s not coming back to the shop for tonight. He knows what he needs to do.

“Hey,” he calls, a smile playing by his lips, “tell me what I missed in the six years I haven’t seen you.”

And he’ll pretend, that he didn't notice the way Taekwoon eyes glimmered in the slightest when he casually talked to him as if it was just yesterday when Hakyeon told Taekwoon to meet up with him after his class.

“Well,” Taekwoon starts off, a subconscious smile starting to form on his face, and Hakyeon tries so hard not to fall.

::

They fell back into the usual easily.

Old habits are hard to kill, after all, especially when you’re someone like Hakyeon who tried so hard to kick them off.

Speaking as if the gap of six years between haven’t been there, seeing each other every now and then, talking over forgotten coffees and cold cakes, laughing as if they hung each other’s moon once again.

Hakyeon easily placed himself in Taekwoon’s life again, and Taekwoon back to his. Sure, there may be the new characters in his circles now, such as his five-year old kid Hoyoung.

Even then, Hoyoung quickly warmed up to him, hanging off his arm and cheerfully calling him ‘hyung’ whenever Taekwoon brings him along.

Taekwoon, too, finally met Hongbin and Jaehwan properly, with Hongbin silently widening his eyes as he recognised him as the customer from the other day and Jaehwan loudly introducing himself as ‘Hakyeon’s  _ best _ friend’, whatever message he meant.

So now, Hakyeon’s hanging around campus, just like old days, enjoying the always beautiful honeysuckles that grew everywhere. He reaches out to touch one, feel their long petals against his fingers.

He feels memories instead.

::

_ A fairy like him shouldn’t have really strayed this far. _

_ But here is, hiding amongst the bushes as crowds and crowds of busy students went on with their schedule. He waits, patiently, as the crowd thins out and only three or five pass by the bushes, when he hurriedly flies out to hurry home. _

_ Damn these sweet-smelling honeysuckles for luring him in. _

_ With a dramatic pout, he makes a move to turn around when the sudden sound of music startled him. _

_ Apparently, he’s just short of being seen right in front of a classroom window. Great. _

_ Carefully, Hakyeon flies to the very bottom, his small face peeking out in the slightest and he sees a man playing a slow, solemn song to an empty room. _

_ Is he the teacher? _

_Suddenly, the rhythm speeds up, his long fingers aggressively hitting the keys however it sounds_ so _beautiful to Hakyeon’s ears._ _Music has always fascinated him as it’s not something that’s really delved into when you’re a fairy._

_ The song slowly comes to an end, quieting down, yet Hakyeon hears every echo of it. _

_ Then the man who was playing the piano stands up, and Hakyeon wishes he didn’t stay too long. _

_ Of course, beautiful people make beautiful music. _

_ It takes every ounce of his self-control to go away – Hakyeon ends up blaming him more than the honeysuckles in the end. _

::

“You’re here?”

Just like déjà vu, Hakyeon with his hands to the honeysuckles and Taekwoon in the classroom window.

“Hi.” Hakyeon smiles as if he just saw the sun for the first time today.

“… Hi.” Taekwoon quickly looks behind him, and there’s still about four students in the room wrapping up. “I’ll be done soon. You still want to come over?”

“Of course I do.”

“… Good.”

::

“It’s amazing how you never got tired of teaching music, Taekwoonie,” Hakyeon comments in the car, him looking out the passenger seat window as Taekwoon hums along to a newly released song. “Surely by now you've switched the subject around or something.”

“I do find it tiring,” Taekwoon admits, swerving left as they fall into a suburban neighbourhood. It’s about afternoon-to-evening, so it doesn’t surprise him to still see kids out playing. “It’s just I also love it too much to even think about doing something else.”

“So in all these years you just taught music theory students alone?”

“Yeah.”

The older hums instead, and lets a smile form on his face as he looks at him. “Suits you, anyway. Love me a ghastly looking man who can also tickle some keys.”

“Your jokes are as bad as I remember, too,” Taekwoon grunts as he pulls up his driveway. “ _ Those _ should’ve changed.”

“You love my jokes,” Hakyeon whines, and he catches a sliver of Taekwoon’s grin when he came out of the car.

“Sure do.”

And back into old habits, they really are.

::

“Hyung!”

Hoyoung’s voice rang against their ears the moment they came inside the house, his feet swiftly running towards them as he clings to Hakyeon’s leg.

“You didn’t even greet me first?” Taekwoon grumbles as he kneels down on one knee to pat his son.

“I see you every day, appa,” Hoyoung quips, and his smile grows wider when Hakyeon picks him up the floor. “And Yeonnie-hyung knows how to have fun!”

“Do I?” Hakyeon laughs as Hoyoung starts pinching his cheeks and Taekwoon sighing away.

It’s a little new to still have a kid around, but Hakyeon likes him enough. (He says enough but he’s really fond of the kid. It’s so easy to make him laugh just like his father and Hakyeon just fits into their life perfectly.)

“Hoyoungie,” Taekwoon calls, and Hakyeon knows it’s time for him to do his homework. Just the normal schedule. They’ll make dinner while Hoyoung does his homework and they’ll eat together. When it gets late, Hakyeon will crash the night in their sofa but he tries to come home early (or save Jaehwan’s lectures).

“What are we making tonight?” Hakyeon brings up when they’re finally alone in the kitchen. The kitchen is just as sparkly clean as always, with the pots cleaned to a shine and the countertops as glossy as ever.

“Hoyoungie has been liking potatoes recently,” the younger replies as he scans the fridge, “maybe he’ll like baby potatoes and ham stew. My mum used to make that to me.”

“You know how?” Rhetorical question.

So Taekwoon looks at him instead, his cute duck apron fitting his frame far too nicely for Hakyeon’s liking, and he humphs away as he starts washing the baby potatoes.

::

“Hoyoung really likes you,” Taekwoon tells him while in the car as he drives Hakyeon home.

The neighbourhood Hongbin lives at is a bit far from the city, and Hakyeon watches the city lights slowly lessen with fascination, until all that’s illuminating the night road is Taekwoon’s car light and street lamps.

“It takes him a lot of coaxing to warm up to people but he latched on you pretty fast.”

“What can I say?” Hakyeon answers with a lopsided grin, dramatically turning his head, “I did the same thing to you. Like father, like son.”

He sees Taekwoon trying to formulate a reply in his head, so he adds, “am I wrong?”

“… No,” Taekwoon replies in defeat, scrunching his nose in annoyance. “He got his traits from me, anyway. I think all he got from Eun-mi were her genetics.”

“You’re right,” Hakyeon agrees, nodding, “he’s got her round eyes and plump lips.”

Taekwoon doesn’t say anything else, and he looks like he’s thinking about something else that Hakyeon knows it’s none of his business to ask about.

“Do you miss her?” Ah, gone and done it, in the end.

“Of course.” It’s a short answer, and it’s probably a sign for Hakyeon to stop asking lest he wants to invoke some sudden feelings from Taekwoon.

“You’re coping well, however.”

“I have to, for Hoyoung,” Taekwoon glances at him, and their eyes meet for a second, before he tears it away to focus on the road again. “I can’t stay sad forever. I have a child to raise.”

“I’m proud of you,” and Hakyeon means it honestly. “I miss her, too,” he adds. “Her jokes were funny.”

He hears Taekwoon snort, “yeah, funny. They weren’t as bad as yours.”

“Oh Taekwoonie,” Hakyeon sighs, banging his head on the car window, “when will you really appreciate my jokes?”

“… You know I really do.”

Hakyeon splutters, but Taekwoon already got out of the car and opened his car door for him. He gives him a pouty face when they’re standing outside Hongbin’s house, the living room lights barely giving them enough lighting.

“Thanks for today again, Taekwoon,” Hakyeon tells him, anyway, a smile shying away from his face when he says it.

“I missed really you too, Hakyeon.”

Oh.

“I’m happy you’re back in my life again,” Taekwoon continues, looking away as he honestly admits how he feels.

Um.

“What brought this on?” He really shouldn’t be feeling so smug, but Hakyeon lets the grin grow wide on his face.

“Just felt like I needed to say it.”

Quietly instead, Hakyeon pulls him into a hug and oh how warm and homey does Taekwoon feel.

“Thank you,” he murmurs as he tightens his hold around his neck, his toes tipping in the slightest, “thank you for accepting me back again.”

He felt like he needed to say it, too.

::

Oh,  _ what now _ ?

Sanghyuk doesn’t need to see  _ this _ kind of thing in a morning shift after a tiring finals week, but here he is, positioned behind the counter and his  _ scary, terrifying, daunting, intimidating _ professor is standing in front of him with a relaxed look on his eyes.

“Taekwoonie!” He hears Hakyeon call, and here he comes almost skipping with the shop apron on.

“Hi,” Taekwoon answers with the slightest curl of his lips, “I thought I’d drop by.”

“Ah, Sanghyuk, this is Taekwoon,” Hakyeon introduces them a big smile, animatedly pointing, “we've known each other for six years, and we’ve gotten in touch again recently.”

“I know him, hyung,” Sanghyuk all but says with a grimace, “he teaches one of the classes I attend.” He realised he’s starting to look rude, so he adds, “hello… sir.”

“Hello, Sanghyuk,” it must be the first time this man has ever smiled at him. “I’ve started being a patron of your brother’s shop after you mentioned it to me. I think the flowers are delightful.”

Ah-ah, so this was  _ his _ doing.

“O-oh really?” He doesn’t really know what to say, as all he does in class is cower whenever his eyes lay on him for more than a second. “I’m glad you like them, sir.”

“So? What made you visit today?” Hakyeon clings to his arm easily, happily latching on his long arm.

“Oh. Today’s Eun-mi’s death anniversary. I haven’t visited her grave since her birthday.”

And how easily Hakyeon’s grip loosens.

“That was… two weeks ago, right?” Somehow, Sanghyuk notices a sudden wash in Hakyeon’s features that he wonders if Taekwoon saw it too.

“Mm, yeah. It was her birthday the day before we met again.” It doesn’t look like he did notice, but Sanghyuk sees anyway how he leans when Hakyeon’s slowly starts pulling away.

“Can I come with?” And Sanghyuk doesn’t really know who this Eun-mi is, to begin with, so he also doesn’t know why he’s observing them closely.

“Only if you want to.”

At least he doesn’t need to do some extreme level of eavesdropping since they’re literally talking in front of him. (He asked Jaehwan later about it, and Jaehwan just gave him a sigh and clung tighter to Hongbin’s arm in the sofa).

::

“And so? What do you think are you doing?”

Hakyeon should’ve known this was coming.

Currently, they’re sitting on Jaehwan and Hongbin’s bed in their shared bedroom. Jaehwan’s noisily sipping his hibiscus tea from his venti cup, before deciding to load Hakyeon the sudden question.

“What do you mean?” He plays the fool card, anyway.

Jaehwan makes a humming noise, before taking another noisy sip of his Starbucks drink and giving him a pointed look, his owl glasses coming down his nose bridge in the slightest.

“I don’t understand you,” he tells Hakyeon with a pout, “I don’t understand why you’re doing this to yourself.”

“Doing… What…” Hakyeon knows exactly what he’s talking about. He tries to play the fool until he snaps, still.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jaehwan rolls his eyes, “maybe, hm, inserting yourself back into someone’s life when you should’ve moved on from that someone so many years ago?”

“Jyani-“

“I’m happy for you, Yeonnie, for smiling much more these weeks. I’m just worried he’ll take more from you when he leaves you again.”

“Jaehwan.”

And Hakyeon inhales, before setting the book he was reading aside and holding Jaehwan’s hands tightly.

“I know what I’m doing,” he answers, trying his best to sound reassuring, “I know better now.”

“You don’t sound so sure,” and he does. He hates how much Jaehwan knows him, too. “You can’t say you’re okay and you’ve moved on because I know you  _ can’t _ .”

Hakyeon tries to open his mouth, to stop him, but Jaehwan goes on, “us fairies have very fragile hearts, Hakyeon. Break it once, you’ll risk yourself on having a slowly beating heart. Break it twice, your heart might as well stop beating.”

He knows very well what’ll happen, he doesn’t need to hear it from Jaehwan, too.

“I don’t… Really want, to sound so discouraging-“

“-you do.”

“I know, but I’m just trying to look out for you. Not all fairy tales end with a happy ending, and I don’t want to lose you just because of heartbreak.” Jaehwan sounds absolutely endearing, and it tears Hakyeon apart because he hasn’t noticed he’s made Jaehwan this worried recently.

“Thank you, Jyani, for looking out for me,” Hakyeon tells him, lip tight but he feels tears slightly welling his eyes. “I’m trying my best. I’m happy where we are, and I don’t need anything else or beyond.”

“Are you sure about that?”

No.

“I’m not sure, but I’m just glad to have him near me again. Even if he doesn’t love me back and my heart can’t handle beating for months as a human, well, I can say I enjoyed the stay again.”

That’s the thing, too. Hakyeon doesn’t know until when he can remain human. It’s almost been a month, and he’s long overdue staying here since Sanghyuk’s finals have already finished last week.

Jaehwan tries to say something, but Hakyeon cuts him off, and says, quietly, “I’m scared, but at the same time, I want to enjoy it while it lasts. Happiness is a fleeting thing, Jaehwan, especially for someone like me. I’ll take what I can, and just treasure it until my last heartbeat.”

::

There’s hard rain pouring down, and Hoyoung is less than thrilled.

“I don’t like thunders, appa,” he whines as Taekwoon tucks him into bed, “what if it makes the monsters come out?”

“Monsters aren’t real, Hoyoungie,” Taekwoon tells him with a short laugh, “appa is here to scare them off even if they are.”

“You’ll take them down?” He doesn’t exactly know what Hoyoung meant ‘take them down’ or where he even picked it up from (85% percent of his brain immediately thought of Hakyeon) but, “Yeonnie-hyung told me you’re scared of monsters yourself!”

Damn Hakyeon and his loudmouth.

“I’m not,” he groans, before sitting next to his son on his bed. “He’s the scaredy-cat, watch him cling to my arm from just a small scare from a movie.”

Hoyoung looks at him, as if judging his words, before asking, “appa, how long have you known hyung?”

“Hakyeonnie?”

His son hums secondly, his eyes sparkling with interest.

“I’ve known him since around the time I also met your mother,” he answers after a short memory check, “why?”

“I don’t remember eomma well…” Hoyoung starts to say, looking abashed suddenly, “but last time I saw appa laugh a lot was back when eomma was still here.”

“Really?”

The kid nods his head, looking cute and cuddly under his warm blanket. “I’m happy appa is happy again thanks to Yeonnie-hyung!”

It takes Taekwoon a second to reply, but he smiles, anyway, and pats his son on the end.

“I’m thankful you’re happy for me, Hoyoungie. Appa’s happy to have him back too.” He tells him, a smile unconsciously slowly growing on his face.

“I wish I can see hyung more often, though,” Hoyoung continues, whining over how Hakyeon doesn’t visit enough (by  _ enough, _ Hakyeon sees him three to four days a week already, he doesn’t know what more does Hoyoung want).

Then, he exclaims, as if he’s just thought the brightest idea, “appa! Yeonnie-hyung said he just lives on his friend’s house for the meantime! Maybe he can live with us too? You’re friends, right? Maybe he’ll say yes and I’ll see him every day!”

“Don’t be silly,” Taekwoon huffs and knocks his head, “Hakyeon is busy helping their shop so he can’t really visit you every day. I don’t think he’d want to live with us too.”

“Why not?” Oh, Hoyoung’s really pouting now. Somehow, he’s already forgotten about the thunder and monsters.

“Because you’re such a noisy kid.” He tells him, with one last grin and pat, before standing up, kissing him a goodnight on the forehead. “Good night, Hoyoung.”

“Seeing him every day will make appa happy, too,” he hears Hoyoung mutter petulantly, but he quiets down when his father laid him a goodnight kiss, so he adds a hushed goodnight and ‘I love you’.

“Love you too,” and Taekwoon flicks the lights off, glad that the monsters finally became the least of Hoyoung’s worries.

::

_ Last time I saw appa laugh a lot was back when eomma was still here. _

_ I’m happy appa is happy again thanks to Yeonnie-hyung! _

_ Seeing him every day will make appa happy, too. _

It’s one-seventeen in the morning and all Taekwoon can hear are his son’s mindless thoughts swimming around his ears.

Leave it to Hoyoung to notice a lot.

Or he just hasn’t really realised how happy he was until Hoyoung really did point it out to him.

Six years have passed, he should’ve left these feelings down the grave long before.

Except,  _ wait _ , Hoyoung didn’t even mention about feelings yet here he is already making himself awkward with nothing.

He turns, and tries to relax his eyes, willing these noisy thoughts away the best he can.

What would Eun-mi say when he sees him like this? Actually, she’d laugh, but-

Taekwoon does remember her checking up on him on how he felt for Hakyeon, and Taekwoon lying through his teeth, saying that he doesn’t feel anything beyond friendship.

If Eun-mi were alive today, would he feel this confused too? At the same time, if she were, then Hoyoung wouldn’t bring it up in the first place, or rather, he wouldn’t be visiting the flower shop at all since he’ll have no reason to buy flowers.

Ah, he was always so bad at feelings. Why do things come at him when he least expects it?

(By things, he meant and solely meant Hakyeon, just like he did six years ago, crashing like a wave and becoming a force to be reckoned with.)

Maybe he’s just overthinking, or over-analysing, spending years and years of being a closeted bisexual, he ended up confusing romantic and platonic feelings in the long run.

He’s just- as Hoyoung’s words, happy. Very happy. Very,  _ very _ happy.

Euphoric.

Elated.

Ecstatic.

More e-words that Taekwoon’s tired brain can bother to recall.

It’ll pass, and he’ll be just as happy as he is to see Hakyeon in the next few months. Just with no confusing feelings. It’s his fault for confusing himself, after all.

_ It’ll pass _ .

::

It didn’t pass.

Three weeks after Hoyoung’s comments that he probably has forgotten about, Taekwoon slowly feels himself losing it,  every day questioning himself worse and worse.

Jaehwan didn’t help either, when he pulled him to the side one day when he dropped by the flower shop and started hammering him down questions as if he’d just committed a crime.

“Tell me, Taekwoon-ssi-“

“-hyung is okay, how many times do I have to remind you-“

“-no. Now tell me,” he has this sharp look in his actually round eyes, and Taekwoon begins sweating bullets when his boyfriend glanced at them, “what on earth are you planning?”

“Plan… Planning?” He doesn’t quite remember bringing up about a plan, or rather anything at all. He  _ just _ entered the shop two minutes ago, looking for Hakyeon, when Jaehwan held his iron grip on him.

“Don’t play dumb on me, Taekwoon,” Jaehwan chides, looking more heated by the second, “you know you’re doing things to Hakyeon, don’t you?”

“Uh- what?” Taekwoon mouth runs dry.

“That dumb fool decided to let himself back in your life and sure, spending time with you does make him happy, but do you know it’s slowly killing him too?” Jaehwan goes off, his voice pitching up as he gets louder, “I can’t just stay at the side and let my best friend hurt himself like that, no thank you, as much as I know it’s impossible to take you from his heart, but the least I can do is take you away from him physically before he hurts himself in the end.”

“I don’t understand. I really don’t understand-“

“God- Hakyeon’s dumb and you just as are. I’m glad at least Binnie’s got some brain in him.” Taekwoon watches him roll his eyes, before gripping his arm tighter. “Listen. I need you to decide on how you feel for Hakyeon soon. Before you know it, your confusion might end up killing him-”

“Jaehwannie.”

“-and that’s absolutely the last thing I want from happening, so  _ please _ , think yourself through and decide on your feelings, because you don’t  _ know _ how much is at stake.”

“Jaehwan, please,” Taekwoon tears his fear-ridden eyes off Jaehwan, and he sees his boyfriend, Hongbin, coming up at them, arms crossed before untangling them and using them to pull Jaehwan towards him.

“Sorry,” Hongbin apologises as he soothes Jaehwan who’s buried his face in his shoulder, “he just gets really worried for Hakyeon.”

“I can… See that,” Taekwoon manages to say.

“He doesn’t- We, don’t really mean to pressure you,” he continues, still patting Jaehwan, “but it’ll really be better if you think things through soon. Hakyeon-hyung relies on you so much.”

“Why- why do you keep speaking as if Hakyeon’s life is at stake?”

“Because it is!” Jaehwan’s sudden outburst startled them both, “that fool won’t be able to handle another heartbreak in his life!”

“Jaehwan makes it sound so extreme,” Hongbin says with a sigh, “but it’s true. You need to sort your feelings out before you hurt hyung badly in the end.”

Gears slowly start working in Taekwoon’s confused brain, before he comes up, dumbly, with a hushed, “he still likes me?”

“ _ Oh my fucking God _ !” Jaehwan really loses it, and he grabs both of Taekwoon’s shoulders, looking at him straight in the eyes. “He’s  _ in love _ with you! In all those six years you haven’t seen each other! Not a single second he stopped feeling something for you, not a single breath without a thought of you!”

Hongbin comes up to release Jaehwan’s hands on him, and he gives Taekwoon a look.

“We’re not telling you to reciprocate his feelings,” he tells him, after giving Jaehwan a bottle of water to cool himself down. “It’s just that we want you to tell him before he ends up knowing it himself badly.”

“You sure love Hakyeon so much, huh.” It’s the dumbest reply, but it’s all he can muster thinking about after being daunted by this sudden confrontation and he’s afraid to think about anything else.

“Do you?” Jaehwan asks, quiet, not looking at him and just muffling his face on Hongbin’s neck. If Taekwoon wasn’t so stressed by their pressuring words, he’d be stressed about their PDA instead.

“I… Don’t know.” He answers, honestly, scared, nervous.

“But do you feel anything?”

“I do.”

The couple shares a look, and Jaehwan gives him a small smile. “Then it’s enough to think about. Think through coffee or something. Coffee helps.”

“No,” Taekwoon quickly replies, averting his eyes, “I mean, I know how I feel. I’m just… Afraid.”

“Afraid of what, Taekwoon?”

And Taekwoon closes his eyes, “I’m afraid of loving again after losing a wife, I’m afraid of admitting the feelings I was afraid to admit too six years ago, I’m afraid to lose him like Eun-mi, I’m  _ so _ afraid of mistaking these romantic feelings to just platonic-“ Then he exhales, his breaths staggering, “I’m afraid to love him.”

Jaehwan looks at him shortly, analysing. He puts a hand on his hip, and utters, “well, Yeonnie can’t have that. He’d need a man who can confidently take care of him. Can you? Can you take care of him?”

“I don’t know,” Taekwoon doesn’t know how many times he’s said that phrase, too.

“I think it’s a great start,” he hears Hongbin say. “I think it’s good enough for now that he knows he does feel some sort of romance towards hyung, after all.”

“You’re right, Binnie,” Jaehwan agrees, but he follows it with a sigh, “guess I can’t expect too much at once.”

Taekwoon bites his lip, debating to also say his next words. Oh, what else can he lose right now?

“Even then, even if I felt confident, I wouldn’t know how I’d… You know… Tell him,” he admits to them bashfully, feeling the tips of his ears already starting to go red, “sure, my son loves him so much so he wouldn’t mind seeing Hakyeon again and again in our house, but- I don’t know what else to do with him.”

The both of them go quiet, before Jaehwan slowly says, “wow, how did you get a wife again?”

“Ah, Jaehwannie!”

“I’m serious! If I were none the wiser, I would’ve assumed he’s just some thirty-something virgin!”

“Listen-“ But they’re not listening, and just giggling amongst to themselves. “Listen!”

“Alright, mister faux virgin,” Jaehwan complies after settling down, his eyes still lighting up from amusement, “we’re listening.”

“It’s different when it comes to Hakyeon, okay?” Taekwoon tells them, his eyes trained to ground and just afraid to meet their gaze. “Hakyeonnie… Is special. He’s special like that.”

“Is it because he’s a man?”

He shakes his head no- Christ no, “I don’t know how to explain. He just is. I can’t label him as anything else besides special.”

“Wow,” they say at the same time, before doubling over again.

“This is actually really cute,” Jaehwan comments with a toothy smile, his mood already switched a hundred-eighty degree from earlier. “It reminds me of when I used to pine for you too, Binnie.”

“Be quiet.”

“Anyway! I know what you should do!” Jaehwan holds his finger up, looking as if what he’s going to say next is absolute and no one else must say otherwise. “Give him flowers every day!”

Oh, Taekwoon the fool actually considers it for a moment, but he snaps out of it when he sees Hongbin grumbling.

“That again?” He groans with a dramatic eye roll. “Is that really all the way of flirting you know?”

“It worked on you?”

The quip Hongbin got as a reply took him aback, so he just crosses his arms with a huff. “I said be quiet.”

“Anyway, it’s a great idea, don’t you think so?” Except Taekwoon is a busy college professor who can’t visit a flower shop every day, unfortunately.

Hongbin, fortunately, sees his doubts, and before Jaehwan can really force his plan on him, he suggests, “I don’t think you need to do anything else, hyung. I think you just need to tell him in the right place and the right time. Maybe over some fancy dinner or something.”

“Oo _ ooh _ !” Jaehwan mockingly exclaims, ringing his arms around Hongbin’s poor neck. “My romantic boyfriend! How come you’ve never done that for me?”

“Because you’re the happiest munching over cold McNuggets?”

Okay, okay. The PDA is getting too much, and Taekwoon is starting to be unable to bear it when he sees Jaehwan actually blushing over what Hongbin said, so he coughs.

“Thank you for the advice,” he tells them. He’s very grateful, actually. “I still can’t guarantee of giving Hakyeon the happiness he deserves, but,” he pauses, looking grim, but he smiles after, “but I’m still willing to try for him. I’m still afraid, and nervous. But his happiness motivates me, in the end.”

Hakyeon, after all, is worth trying for.

::

Immediately, when Hoyoung realised he picked the wrong timing to have a sleepover over his friend Youngseung’s house and sees Hakyeon smiling at him in their doorway, he starts pouting.

“Aw-“ Hoyoung whines as Hakyeon comes up to him to give him a pat, “I didn’t know you’d come over,” he tells him with sad eyes.

“You can still see me next time you silly boy,” Hakyeon laughs, before looking around for his dad. “Where’s you appa?”

“Appa’s in the kitchen,” Hoyoung replies, easily revealing his father’s whereabouts, “he said he wanted to surprise you today.”

“Did he now?” Still laughing, Hakyeon leaves him alone to go where Taekwoon is, but Taekwoon already emerged from the kitchen door and he looks surprised when he sees Hakyeon standing in front of him.

“You’re here early,” Taekwoon comments, wearing that silly duck apron again and hands covered in duck patterned gloves. (He told Hakyeon one time about Hoyoung’s strange fascination towards ducks.)

“Hey,” Hakyeon greets, smiling so nonchalantly that it makes Taekwoon’s heart double-over actually. How Hakyeon does this to him with the barest minimum effort, he’ll never know. “Hoyoung told me I’m in for a surprise.”

“That noisy kid...” Taekwoon just shakes his head in disbelief; he should’ve known Hoyoung would ruin half of it for him. Maybe he should cut down the chocolates in the fridge as revenge.

“So? What does mister Jung Taekwoon has in store for me?” Hakyeon continues to pry anyway, crossing his arms and showing off his pretty tan skin.

“At least you didn’t say ‘mistersus’,” the younger grumbles, moving past him to meet Hoyoung who was waiting patiently in the couch. “But nice try.”

“Oh wow, you remember that stupid joke I made a long time ago.” Hakyeon actually looks like he couldn’t believe he just referenced something like that, but Taekwoon knew that this night is going to be his now or never.

“I remember everything from that night, Hakyeon,” and before he could say anything else, Taekwoon already approached his son on the couch, ready to bring him to the house across.

“Be back in a bit! Make yourself at home.” And dumbfounded Hakyeon is.

::

Hakyeon has already been jittery since pre-dinner after what Taekwoon told him, but now during dinner, he’s  _ just _ extra-jittery. He doesn’t know what to do with his hands and they keep trembling whenever he feels Taekwoon’s eyes land on him.

God- this is it. He’s gonna reveal to Hakyeon how much it bothered him to have him around. Or tell him that he really feels uncomfortable around him and he’s just keeping him for the sake of making Hoyoung happy. Or, who knows, tell him that he never really meant to keep him around this long and-

“Do you wanna try the gravy?” Taekwoon cuts his anxiety-riddled brain, unfortunately very unaware of his brain going down anxiety highway. “I learnt it from my mother. Just from chicken stock and butter, and you know, the usual. It tastes great with the mashed potato and steak.”

Their fingers brush in the slightest, and Hakyeon’s anxiety just shifted to maximum overdrive.

“So,” Taekwoon starts, and Hakyeon doesn’t know if he’s noticed how he’s extra quiet today and he’s just trying to keep things less awkward or what, but he really appreciates it, “what were you up to today?”

“Oh today?” Hakyeon’s surprised he answered with a stable voice. He’s about to go off when he remembers that most of what happened today was him worrying Jaehwan when he mentioned that it’s been two months and a half, and saying how he feels his toll is coming closer.

Jaehwan looks assured, however. Whatever goes on in his head.

“Nothing much,” he says instead, taking a bite out from the steak along with the mashed potato and gravy. Taekwoon was right —  _ this _ is heaven. “Had to deal with Hongbin facing an angry customer asking for the manager. I think that’s the most interesting that’s happened today.”

“Those kinds of customers also appear in flower shops?” You know what, that does make sense. Hakyeon thought they also only appear in retail or restaurants.

“I’m just wondering why they even exist,” Hakyeon grumbles to his food, enjoying it way too much. “What about you? How was your day?” He asked right after, trying his best to not let the conversation die.

“Also nothing much,” Taekwoon gives him a non-committed shrug, “I mean, it’s a weekend, so. The most eventful that happened was that Hoyoung tried to secretly make the slime things he keeps watching in YouTube and I had to confiscate every glue I saw in sight. He didn’t cry, but he did keep calling a ‘no-jam’ until this evening.”

He takes a gulp of the wine that Hakyeon noticed he brought out just for tonight, “well, I’d rather have that than deal with slime all over our carpets.”

Yet Hakyeon still kept on staring at the wine, wondering what’s the occasion and whatever reason did Taekwoon bring it out for.

“What’s the wine for?” As always, he inevitably ends up voicing his questions.

Taekwoon looks taken aback at his question for a second, but he continues eating, anyway. “I think tonight is pretty rare, since Hoyoung isn’t here. I think it’s a good chance to drink without a child in the vicinity.”

Oh, right, of course. Leave it to Hakyeon’s anxiety and overthinking.

“And the fancy food?”

“Oh shut up and just eat.” As weak as he is, he ends up laughing over what Taekwoon said when someone would’ve found it rude.

“What do you want to do after?” Hakyeon asks when he recovered, resting his chin on his hand as he watches Taekwoon finish up the last bits of his steak. “It’s quite early and I don’t want to go home yet.”

“There’s still your surprise.”

That, yes. Also that.

“I’m excited.”

“Well, don’t expect too much.” Taekwoon gulps the last piece of his food, downing it with the last drop of his wine, before standing up. “Come.”

He brings Hakyeon to the living room, where he sits on the grand piano that is glossy and shiny as ever, never allowed to collect dust.

“Where do I stand?” Hakyeon queries, a thousand thoughts per minute but he’s trying his best, okay, he just needs a little guidance.

“Sit here,” Taekwoon pats the spot next to him on the piano seat. It’s a little too small for two full-grown men, but they make do, anyway.

And, as they enjoy the final moments of silence, Taekwoon brings his fingers down to the keys.

It’s familiar, very familiar, and Hakyeon can’t put a finger where has he heard this slow, quiet song before. Taekwoon starts humming along, and as he reaches the chorus, where there are more notes, he whispers lyrics along that it’s enough for Hakyeon to know it must be a song he’s been working on.

The song washes over him like a sense of nostalgia, a sense of comfort, as if it brings him so much closer to home and safety that he doesn’t want to stop listening to it. It’s as warm and calming like Taekwoon’s voice and Hakyeon finally lets his pounding heart quiet down.

Unfortunately, the song does end, no matter how much Hakyeon yearned for it to no never stop, and he sees Taekwoon face him with a dazed look.

“I found this song again after I was sorting my files the other week,” he tells Hakyeon, a gentle smiling playing over his lips, “I forgot about it since it was so old, but I’m glad I found it again.”

He continues, looking at Hakyeon with a face as unreadable as they met again, “it was incomplete when I found it, and it’s still incomplete, but I think it’s heading to a good direction.”

Suddenly, Hakyeon realises now where he’s heard it before. It was  _ surely _ the song he heard Taekwoon play when he first saw him, as a fairy, as naïve as ever.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played it to you, though,” Taekwoon goes on, a little guilty when he thinks that Hakyeon must not recognise the song, “but it’s pretty important to me. I was lost composing this but I met you for the first time the next week. I think it’s some sort of anniversary song, or something cheesy like that.”

Hakyeon slowly feels non-existent sand fill his throat, and he loses the ability to speak as Taekwoon continues speaking.

“It’s about dreams, I suppose,” he adds, looking sheepish and he lays a hand down the piano, before playing the chorus and singing along. When he finishes, he looks at Hakyeon once again, eyes glazed and Hakyeon wishes he’d stop being so fucking beautiful. “I’ve had a dream a long time ago, too. It’s about me finally trying to achieve that dream I’ve sought for so many years before.”

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon finally manages to say, and he’ll just blame the liquid courage he’s had in his system.

“No,” Taekwoon tries to shut him up, and he entwines their hands, bringing him to the dining room for another glass of wine.

“Listen, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon starts, and he looks adorable, the wine putting a high red on his cheeks and ears, “I swear to god I’m not drunk, or be damned we are, because you know I also speak the truth even if I am.”

He gives Hakyeon a second to approve for him to continue. When Hakyeon doesn’t say anything, he goes on, “I’ve debated it with myself many, many times, and I’ve asked Eun-mi about it too, even if she doesn’t reply. I just- I don’t know what to do with my feelings.

“I still meant everything I said that night,” he says, leaning forward on the table and he glances at Hakyeon in his right who’s staring at him. “I still meant what I said. I meant the ‘I loved you’, and the fact that I really loved you all along; just afraid, just a coward.”

A shaky breath escapes his lips, and Hakyeon takes it as a sign to sip his own glass of wine. Taekwoon says then, “I want to play the card of the fool and say ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you this’, but I think you deserve to know it, even if the feelings have gone unrequited.”

“I won’t be dishonest, and say that not a single moment have I not thought about you in the past six years. I still wished for your presence at times. So, you can really see my happiness when we finally saw each other again,” Taekwoon laughs, actually, before drinking. “I must’ve been the last person you were expecting to see again, especially after our… Painful departure. So I understand how you must’ve felt when you saw me.”

“I’m thankful,” he admits when Hakyeon still continues to look through him, as if he’s transparent, “I’ve said it so many times, but I’ll never say it enough. I’m so happy you’re back in my life, Hakyeon.”

Yet Hakyeon still can’t say anything and he just holds his wine glass tighter with his trembling fingers, watching the red liquid slosh around inside.

“So,” he tries after a deafening silence, “what does this all mean?”

“Hakyeon,” and he watches Taekwoon settle their glasses down the table, and takes his hands in his. There are the strange small sparks of energy again, and how Hakyeon loved how it feels. It made him feels alive. “I don’t want… To sound conceited, but,” Taekwoon pauses, averting his eyes and bores them into their legs instead, “but I was… Told, that you still feel the same after all these years.”

Oh.

“I can’t say how happy I was to hear that, just to hear that you still cared about me despite our distance and zero interactions,” Taekwoon’s voice starts to tremble, but he tries to continue, “I’m more than happy just to be with you like this, to enjoy dinners and talk over coffees, but,” once again, he inhales, letting his final thoughts come over him, “but, I’ll always prefer more.”

Hakyeon couldn’t see his face, as he’s still having a sad staring contest with their thighs, so he shakes their entwined hands, making Taekwoon look at him in habit.

“It was Jaehwan, wasn’t it?” He confirms with a gentle small, and it grows into a grin when Taekwoon does nod. It’s just that- Hakyeon can’t trust himself with words right now, and after hearing all that, his desire to kiss Taekwoon’s lips has increased tenfold tonight.

So, he leans in, looking still Taekwoon's lips, and Taekwoon may have noticed how his lips quirk up in the slightest. Hakyeon seems to be thinking, but he tears his eyes back to look at him in the eyes, and with a hushed voice, he asks, “may I?”

“May you what-“ And Hakyeon’s glad to let him know what he meant when he finally locked their lips together once again. It’s as soft as Hakyeon remembers it was, possibly even softer, and wow, how did he survive the past years without  _ this _ ?

“Yes,” he gasps as he let's go of Taekwoon just to catch his breath, “yes,  _ please _ . I love you. I still want to be with you.”

Eyes sparkling, Taekwoon leans into his touch, feeling his warm hand caress his face. “Thank you. Thank you for giving me another chance.” Then he’s the one who leans closer now, until their lips are just breaths away, “I love you too.”

And, well, Hakyeon can’t really hold himself back after saying something like that.

The kiss gets heated, and their tongues joined in, tasting each other of the wine.

“Was this it?” Hakyeon jokes as he pulls away, contentedly looking at Taekwoon’s starting to bruise lips, “was this the purpose of the wine?”

He gets a slap on the shoulder, and Taekwoon laughs as they kiss again.

The older pulls away again, though, as he still needs to say the punchline, “you know, you don’t need to get me drunk to make me stay the night.”

They may have made out on the table longer than necessary, with Hakyeon’s legs tightening around Taekwoon’s waist as he manhandles him on the table, ready to bring him somewhere else.

Hakyeon was right, however, that he didn’t need to get drunk just to stay, and he’s glad they’re not drunk enough to lose their shit trying to find where the light switch is in Taekwoon’s bedroom.

It really was a great idea that there wasn’t a child near the vicinity that night.

::

“So?” Jaehwan asks him with a knowing smile when they see each other after a few days. Hakyeon ended up staying longer than one night, with Taekwoon whispering in his ear that they won’t have company until today, and Hakyeon’s too easy for that.

“So?” Hakyeon mirrors his voice and smile, looking refreshed and happy. Hongbin can already tell that things went well.

“You’re here to stay?” Jaehwan’s back to sipping his Starbucks loudly again, but Hakyeon couldn’t find the time to be annoyed by it right now.

The bell rings, and they see Taekwoon with Hoyoung, with that big backpack of his that makes his small child body look so small.

“Yeah,” he answers him, smugly, “looks like my heart will beat after all.”

“Well, I'll be damned since it’s been three months.”

Rolling his eyes, Hakyeon leaves him alone, and joins the newcomers instead, greeting Hoyoung animatedly and giving Taekwoon a shy kiss (Taekwoon’s shy reaction was cuter though).

For now, even if Hoyoung’s still calling him hyung and Taekwoon’s still adjusting to their new dynamic, it’ll be just all fine. They can take things slowly, even years (but Hakyeon hopes it won’t take six), and they’re here to stick together like glue for once and for all.

There’s a thought on the back of his head that Eun-mi’s probably laughing at them in heaven, too, but he dismisses it to complain to her later.

The sun is here to stay, and they think it's quite alright.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, thank you so much again to hes for beta'ing ;~; im love u so much
> 
> please leave a kudos and comment if you enjoyed! it will mean so much to me,,,
> 
>  **twitter** : @[chocoleotier](https://twitter.com/chocoleotier)
> 
> talk to me !


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